Key clinical point: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with high baseline fibromyalgianess were more likely to use glucocorticoid persistently at 3 months follow-up, regardless of inflammatory activity.
Major finding: After adjusting for potential confounders including noninflammatory and inflammatory factors, patients with high or very high vs low fibromyalgianess were significantly more likely to be taking prednisone (adjusted odds ratio, 4.99; 95% confidence interval, 1.20-20.73) at 3-month follow-up.
Study details: Findings are from an analysis of 97 patients with active RA from the prospective Central Pain in RA (CPIRA) cohort, who were on oral prednisone for 3 months after starting a new disease-modifying antirheumatic drug.
Disclosures: The CPIRA study was funded by the National Institute of Health/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. YC Lee, MB Bolster, and DJ Clauw reported receiving consulting fees, speaking fees, honoraria, and/or stock ownership from various sources. All the other authors declared no conflict of interests.
Source: Wallace BI et al. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021 Jul 22. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab583 .